


Rain Down And Destroy Me

by troubledsouls



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Graphic Descriptions of Injuries, It's not actually romance and stuff because Tyler is 10 and Josh is 12
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-06
Updated: 2017-01-24
Packaged: 2018-07-12 16:43:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 2,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7113886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/troubledsouls/pseuds/troubledsouls
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The saying of wearing a groove in the floor is true. There's a small indent in the floor where Josh paces, day after numbing day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. faith is to be awake

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nathansummers](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nathansummers/gifts).



“I want to go outside.” Josh says quietly. 

Tyler pulls his knees up to his chest and rests his head on them. “We can't.”

“The rain stops at night.”

“We're not allowed to go out at night.”

“There's no good reason for that!” Josh paces. The saying of wearing a groove in the floor is true. There's a small indent in the floor where Josh paces, day after numbing day. There's nothing else to do, really, except drown in your own mind. Josh paces until his legs hurt, and then he keeps going. 

“Yes, there's a good reason. If you go out at night, you get shot.” Tyler points out. 

“It rains all day and we can't go out at night! We’re trapped. We’re as good as prisoners.” Josh spits. His feet dig into the floor as he turns harshly.

Tyler starts to rock forwards and backwards. He doesn't respond. 

The rain pounds on the roof of the small box they live in. They share a bed that's shoved into the corner. There's a door that's always unlocked, but they know better than to open it. Food and water are delivered at night, when it's not raining. 

The rain burns flesh. 

“What if we just run.” Tyler whispers. “Just open the door and sprint.”

“At night?” Josh asks. 

Tyler nods. 

Josh considers the proposal. “And when it rains?”

“We’ll figure it out.”

Josh smiles. “Tonight, then. A bit after when food is delivered.”

Tyler smiles back. “Tonight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could prolly continue this? What do the people Want


	2. why I would go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The people want this to continue.

Tyler eases open the door and looks around outside. 

It's dark. There are no stars or moons overhead, just blackness. It's probably from clouds. 

They haven't been outside in so long. 

Tyler steps out, holding the bottles of water with a death grip.

Alarms begin to blare. 

“GO!” Josh yells, and then the two are sprinting across open ground, weaving in between boxes that presumably house other people. 

There are a couple gunshots that sound far away, and they spur Tyler and Josh to run faster. 

They're almost out when they reach a fence. 

“Is it electrified?” Josh asks, and Tyler throws one of the water bottles at the fence. 

“It isn't.” Tyler says, picking up the bottle and then shoving both of them into the waistband of his pants. “You go first.”

Josh runs and jumps at the fence, clinging onto it a few feet above the ground. He starts to scale it, but Josh was never good at climbing. It's slow going. 

Josh is up and over when Tyler starts to climb. 

There's a gunshot. 

Tyler’s left arm goes limp, but he keeps climbing, hauling himself up and then dropping to the ground on the other side. “Run!”

He and Josh sprint again, into the trees just beyond the fence. 

It's only a few minutes of running before they hear shouting. 

Josh spots a hollow underneath one of the giant trees, roots bending so that there's a space that's hard to see. He guides Tyler in first, then squeezes in, so that the two are pressed close together. There's probably more space, but they cling to each other, too terrified to move. 

“Josh, I got shot. I think it's a tracker bullet.” Tyler whimpers. 

Josh grabs Tyler’s arm. His fingers probe for the wound. He finds it. 

“This is gonna hurt.” He says, and then his fingers dig into the bullet hole. 

Tyler nearly bites through his lip in an attempt not to scream. 

Josh pulls the bullet out and then gets his body out of the hole just enough to throw the bullet as far as he can. 

He slips back in and holds Tyler close, wiping away his tears.

They wait in fear.


	3. shot my general

Heavy footsteps sound outside their place of hiding. Tyler clings to Josh, who has a hand over his wound. It's the most terrified the two have ever been.

The footsteps stop right outside the entrance. 

Someone speaks. “It looks like the bullet is in the undergrowth.”

“Well, shoot at it.” That must be someone over a communicator.

Gunshots fill the air. Tyler and Josh try not to have a sound, to not even breathe.

The footsteps move away from them, then there's a loud curse and some yelling. “They're not here! They must've gotten the bullet out.”

“You better get back. The rain will start soon, they'll die anyways.”

Tyler pushes his face into Josh's neck. 

The footsteps go away. 

Josh inspects the entrance. “I don't think rain can get in here. It would damage the tree.” Giant trees needed airflow at their bases, but that base was also very easily damaged by the rain, probably because what it was made of was very similar to human flesh. 

Tyler nods, whimpering a little. 

“We’re gonna need to clean your wound, so it doesn't get infected.” Josh pulls the water bottles out of Tyler's waistband. “Drink a little. I'll be right back.” Josh squeezes out of the hole as a clap of thunder sounds. He sprints over to a bush and pulls off its giant leaves. He can make a bandage with these. They're absorbent. 

There's another clap of thunder right before Josh gets back in, and once he's next to Tyler it begins to pour. 

The rain sizzles as it hits the ground, and Josh is terrified. 

Tyler starts to cry. 

“Shh, shh, it's okay.” Josh pulls Tyler close and begins to rock him gently. 

“I d-don't wanna die!” Tyler sobs.

“We're not gonna die.” Josh whispers. “I promise. And I've never broken a promise, right?”

Tyler takes a shaky breath and sniffles. 

“I gotta get a bandage on your wound. Did you drink?”

Tyler nods.

Josh strips two of the leaves so that he just has the vein up the center. He gently folds the remaining leaf and presses it against Tyler's arm before tying it on. “There. We’ll make a new one later.”

“Are we gonna go farther tomorrow?” Tyler asks in a small voice. 

“Yeah. We’ll get far, far away. But let's sleep first.”

Tyler nods.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I should mention they're really young. As in, Tyler is ten and Josh is twelve.


	4. with your mouth

When Josh wakes up, it's still raining. 

The hiss of it hitting the ground fills the air, surrounds him, and he's scared. 

Tyler is still snuggled into his chest, curled up as tiny as his small body can manage. He isn't as big as he should be, at his age. Josh isn't sure why, he himself is big enough. 

The hissing begins to slow just as Tyler blinks his eyes open. “My arm hurts.”

“I know. I'll have to rebandage it tonight.” Josh whispers, running his fingers through Tyler's hair. “We gotta move first though, okay? I'll carry you if it gets to be too much.”

The rain stops. 

They're in silence for a couple minutes, and then Josh says “let's go.”

They climb out of the hollow and begin to walk in the opposite direction of the compound that they were held in. 

It's almost midnight when Tyler starts to complain that he's hungry and thirsty, and they stop to drink some and eat a little. They have to make this last a while. Josh doesn't know if any things edible around them. 

Tyler starts bleeding through the makeshift bandage around early morning, and Josh has to replace it. 

It's lighter, and then they hear the first clap of thunder. 

Josh immediately scoops up Tyler and runs to the nearest giant tree, making sure Tyler gets inside. 

There's a second clap just as Tyler gets in, and before Josh can move it starts to rain.


	5. in my skin

Josh screams, and it's a sound that scares Tyler so much he starts to cry. 

Josh falls, and there's smoke rising from his skin, and Tyler yells his name. 

Josh hauls himself up onto his hands and knees and crawls, collapsing into the hollow under the tree. The rain ate through his clothes and the skin on his back. There's exposed bone in some places. The only good thing is that he's not bleeding, that the rain seemed to seal up the ends up his blood vessels so that he doesn't bleed out. 

Tyler is sobbing, knees pulled up to his chest and body curled up as tiny as he can make it. Josh groans. Tyler's pretty sure he's passed out from the pain. 

Tyler cries, and cries, and cries until he falls asleep. 

When Tyler wakes up, it's no longer raining, but Josh is still passed out. 

Tyler drags his body deeper into the hollow. Josh seems to be breathing, so he's not dead, not yet. 

Tyler doesn't know what to do. Josh is always the one with the plans and the ideas. 

He needs something on his acid burn. 

Water?

Tyler opens one of the water bottles and pours a little on one of the worst burns on Josh's head. The exposed bone and flesh sizzles and Josh moans in pain. 

Tyler is terrified. They can't move when Josh is like this, and they're not too far from the compound. But they have to stay here. Josh can't even stay conscious like this.

Tyler gently pours the rest of the water over the wounds. It seems to provide some relief, as Josh begins to go slack, tensed muscles relaxing. 

Tyler needs more water. 

He slowly ventures out of the hollow, then scratches an X into the bark of the grainy tree so that he can find his way back. 

It's a while of walking in the dark before Tyler finds a stream. He dips the bottle in and collects the water. It's not tainted with acid, because Tyler's hand has no burns. 

He brings back the water to find Josh trying to get up and failing. 

“No, no, don't.” Tyler whispers, gently pressing a hand to an unburned part of Josh's skin. “You need to drink, come on.” Tyler ignores the way his stomach rolls whenever he looks at Josh's injuries. 

He tips some water into Josh's mouth, then breaks off some food and feeds bits to Josh. “Okay, I need to…” Josh needs something over the burns. 

Tyler darts out of the hollow again and rips some huge leaves off of the nearby bushes. He can lay these on Josh. 

He crawls back in and resigns himself to the fact that they will be there for a while, and Tyler is the one who will have to take care of them both.


	6. and my own two hands

It's been a couple days. 

Josh is lying on his stomach on a large bed of soft leaves, with leaves that Tyler discovered accelerated the healing process pressed across all his wounds. 

Josh is able to stay conscious for longer periods of time, now. Tyler gives him water and feeds him. 

Since they're out of food from the compound, Tyler has been finding berries and edible flowers. 

Josh is asleep, and it's raining. Tyler hasn't slept properly in days. He's not sure why. Maybe because he's too worried about Josh. 

Sometimes, during the night, Tyler can hear footsteps and yells. It scares him more than anything else in the world. 

At least his bullet wound isn't infected and is healing, but it'll definitely leave a scar. 

Tyler hopes nothing else bad happens to them. 

He dozes off, and jolts awake when footsteps pound near the entrance to their hollow. 

He freezes, holding his breath, staring at where they are exposed to the outside world. 

There are voices. Tyler is so afraid. 

“You know, if there are people out here, you're probably scaring them.” That's a whisper. 

The footsteps become quieter, and then recede. 

Tyler stays frozen, hardly breathing, for a long time afterwards.


	7. cause we're terrified

Tyler is outside, ripping off some of the healing leaves, when he hears a voice behind him. 

“Hello there.” 

He whips around, clutching the leaves close to his chest, eyes wide and scared. 

“Hey, I'm not going to hurt you.” The figure hold their hands up, fingers spread. “I can take you somewhere safe, where the rain can't hurt you.”

They tower over Tyler’s small form. 

“M not leaving without Josh.” Tyler says, staring up at the figure. 

“Can you show me Josh?”

Tyler marches away from the figure, back towards the hollow where Josh is. He hardly hears the footsteps that follow him. 

“In there.” Tyler points towards the hole. 

The figure slips inside, and Tyler hears a small gasp. A minute later Josh is pushed out, followed by the figure. 

Josh lets out a soft groan of pain as he's lifted by the figure. 

“What's your name?” The figure asks. 

“Tyler.” Tyler says. 

“Hello, Tyler. My name's Patrick.”

“Is Josh gonna be okay?” 

“I hope so.”


	8. fun to fantasize

Patrick leads Tyler into what looks like a large house, weaved sticks and leaves making sturdy protection. 

Tyler ducks inside after him, watching as Patrick gently places Josh onto a bed. There are other people there, figures moving in the little amount of light to Josh. 

Tyler shrinks back as one of them approaches. 

They raise their hands. Tyler copies them, unsure of what to do. 

“Oh, right, you're a runaway.” They drop their hands. Tyler keeps his up. “It's okay, you don't have to keep your hands up. I'm Joe.” 

Tyler slowly lowers his arms. “I'm Tyler.”

“How old are you, Tyler?”

“Ten.”

Joe seems surprised. “I'm sixteen.”

Tyler can't imagine living to sixteen. No one lives to sixteen. Except… Joe.

Sixteen. It's a new concept. 

“Patrick's helping that kid. Is he your friend?”

“He's Josh. He's twelve.” Twelve is an old age to live to. “Do you think he’ll get to be as old as you?”

Josh being _sixteen_. It's something Tyler wants to see. Tyler would be fourteen, and that would be amazing. 

“I think so, yeah.” Joe smiles. “Pete and Andy are out right now, but you can meet them once they come back.”

“How old are the rest of you?” Tyler looks up at Joe with wonder. 

“Patrick's fifteen, Andy’s sixteen like me, and Pete is twenty.”

Tyler's eyes almost bug out of his head. “ _Twenty??_ ”

“Yeah, I know, it's pretty amazing. He's been out here for a long time.” Joe stretches the back of his head. “Come on, let me show you where we sleep.”


	9. can you save

Tyler listens to the rain splatter and sizzle outside. He lies on a bed, hidden inside a hollow of one of the largest giant trees he's ever seen. There are other people sleeping around him. 

He sits up and swings his legs over the edge of the bed, staring towards where he knows the exit is. Josh is out there. 

Tyler runs his fingers over his mostly healed bullet wound. 

He feels safe here. 

He stands up and walks quietly towards the exit, feet padding softly on the dirt floor. 

He peeks out into the makeshift building, eyes focusing on Josh's still form. His eyes wander to see Patrick and Joe sitting and looking out into the rain. 

A figure darts inside, and Tyler covers his mouth. 

They toss a huge leaf back outside, and are immediately confronted by Patrick and Joe.

“Where is Andy?” Joe’s voice is scary. 

“I don't know. We got separated.” The newcomer seems very agitated. “You found a burned kid?”

“Yeah, and at least we did our jobs.” Patrick growls. 

“Why keep him? He's not going to make it.”

Tyler suppresses a whimper. 

“He was with another one. And we can't just leave him to _die_ , like you just left Andy.”

“It wasn't my fault!” 

The yell makes some people behind Tyler stir. 

He darts back to his bed, heart pounding in fear.


End file.
